THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, October 14, 2022 Page 9 BHRC| FROM PAGE 8 own tax forms prove.” Here are the official arguments of the supporters and opponents as they appear in the Redbook – the book, distributed by the Secretary of State to households across the state, which provides Information to voters on ballot questions. IN FAVOR: Written by Dr. Patricia Brown The Committee on Dental Insurance Quality www.fairdentalinsurance.org “A ‘Yes’ vote ensures better coverage and value for patients, instead of unreasonable corporate waste. For example, according to its own 2019 Form 990, Delta Dental (in Massachusetts alone) paid executive bonuses, commissions, and payments to affiliates of $382 million, while only paying $177 million for patient care. A ‘Yes’ vote would eliminate this inequity. Similar to medical insurance, this law would require dental insurance companies to allocate at least 83 percent of paid premiums to patient care, or refund premiums to patients to meet this standard. Insurance companies will try to confuse voters by saying that dental insurance premiums will increase. This is false, because Section 2(d) of the law specifically disallows increases above the consumer price index without state approval. Stop the corporate waste. Vote ‘Yes’ for fair dental insurance.” AGAINST: Written by Louis Rizoli Committee To Protect Public Access To Quality Dental Care www.Protectmydentalcare.com “This question will increase costs for Massachusetts families and employers — a 38 percent premium increase in one recent independent study — and could result in thousands of people losing access to dental care. With consumer prices soaring, we don’t need a new regulation that will increase costs and decrease choice. There is no law like this ballot question anywhere in the nation. The Massachusetts Legislature actually repealed a similar law in 2011 because it proved overly burdensome and provided no real benefits for consumers. Federal lawmakers excluded it from Obamacare, and a special commission in Massachusetts reviewed and rejected a similar provision. Further, the state already requires reporting from dental plans.” ALSO, UP ON BEACON HILL ALLOW CITIES AND TOWNS TO COLLECT CONDO FEES ACCUMULATED DURING FORECLOSURE PROCESS (H 3022) – The House gave initial approval to a bill that applies to cities and towns which have put a tax lien on a condominium property for the owner’s failure to pay property taxes. The measure allows cities and towns to collect, at the time of the foreclosure sale, any condo fees owed to the condo association, during the foreclosure process. Under current law, the city or town can collect only the back taxes but not the condo fees. Sponsor Rep. Brian Murray (D-Milford) recounted a case in which several commercial condos in Milford were placed into tax title because of failure of the owners to pay taxes. He said it took six years until the property finally went to foreclosure, auction and sale. Following the sale, the condo association successfully sued the town for the back condo fees and the town had to pay $60,000 out of its pocket because under current law, it was precluded from recovering the condo fees in the foreclosure and auction process. “I filed this bill to prevent such an occurrence from happening in the future, by providing a municipality the right to recover these [condo fee] costs as an addition to the tax title account and part of the terms of eventual redemption,” said Rep. Murray. “The bill seeks equity for cities and towns to be able to recover all known costs in situations where foreclosures of condominiums, which can take a great deal of time that translates into expense, become necessary due to the failure to pay real estate taxes.” ELECTION LAWS BILLS SENT TO A STUDY COMMITTEE – Several bills affecting the state’s elections laws were sent to a study committee where bills are rarely actually studied and are essentially defeated. It is a way to kill a proposal without holding a vote on the bill itself. Here are some of the election law bills that were sent off to a study committee: MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO PAY SOMEONE TO ATTEND TOWN MEETING (S 467) – Makes it a crime to bribe someone to attend or not to attend their local town meeting and imposes up to a 1-year prison sentence on violators. Current law makes it illegal to pay someone to vote at an election but does not apply to town meetings. “For the integrity of our local government, it is crucial there be no incentive for attendance or absence at a town meeting,” said sponsor Sen. Paul Feeney (D-Foxboro). “There remains a loophole in the statute that we must work to close. [The bill] does just that by ensuring no payments, or compensation of any kind is exchanged for attendance or absence to a town meeting, similar to a prohibition on compensation in exchange for a vote at the ballot box. I will continue to support this measure in the upcoming legislative session and hope to see this oversight addressed.” ALLOW RESIDENTS TO REQUEST ANONYMITY ON STREET LISTINGS (S 456) – Under current law, all Massachusetts households receive in the mail and must fill out an annual street listing (census) form that includes each resident’s name, address, date of birth, occupation, veteran status and nationality, if not a citizen of the United States, in January of each year. The information is used to maintain voting and jury lists, aid in school enrollment projections and for many other things including veterans’ benefits and proof of residency for state universities. This bill would allow any resident of a city or town to request that his or her information from each city or town’s annual street listing not be posted publicly and not be disclosed to anyone without the person’s permission. Current law allows a few people, including those who are under a court order granting protection or living in a protective shelter, law enforcement and public safety personnel, to request their information be kept confidential. The bill allows anyone to request the exemption. “This straightforward bill would allow town clerks to refrain from making public personally identifiable information about voters if they receive a request from said voter,” said sponsor Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton). “I was happy to introduce this bill on behalf of a constituent of mine. This bill will not become law this session, but I look forward to further action in this space in subsequent sessions.” REGULATE “PUSH POLLING” (H 821) – Would require anyone conducting a “push poll” to identify the candidate or organization for which he or she is working and inform the interviewee that the telephone call is a paid political advertisement. 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Competitive prices on all Brands, Great Selection Chris 2022 City to host Benefits Day event Advocate Staff Reports T he City of Malden will be hosting “Benefits Day” at the Senior Center on Wednesday, October 19 from 10 a.m.– 4 p.m. This event will allow residents to come learn about different benefits and resources that are available and even have the chance to sign up/register for some of them. Vendors include the following: ABCD, Asian Women Health, Bread of Life, Cambridge Health Alliance, Department of Mental Health, Department of Transitional Assistance, Eliot’s Family Resource Center, Joint Committee-Children’s Health, Malden Public Library, MassHealth, MelroseWakefield Hospital, Mystic Valley Elder Services, Mystic Valley Opportunity Center, Addiction Recovery Resource Specialist Paul Hammersley, Revive Counseling, YMCA and YWCA. Translation services will be available. For more information, please call Senior Center Coordinator Mikeneil Paul at 781870-7573 or email mpaul@cityofmalden.org.
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